Rice Urges Iraq's Sects To Seize Calm

February 18, 2007|By Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD — The secretary of state visits a calmer Baghdad as violence rises elsewhere.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Baghdad on Saturday and urged Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians to use a lull in violence resulting from a new security plan to reach long-delayed agreement on key political issues.

Her visit came as the much-vaunted plan, dubbed "Enforcing the Law," gets under way in Iraq's capital. An Iraqi military spokesman said that attacks had dropped significantly and that many fewer bodies were being brought to the morgue.

"How the Iraqis use the breathing space that (the plan) might provide is what's really important," Rice said during her half-day visit to Baghdad's heavily protected Green Zone. Iraqi security forces were "off to a good start," she said, but that it was still early.

"There are going to be bad days for the Baghdad security plan, when violence is up, not down," she said. "The real test will be steering a steady course."

On Saturday, Rice met Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite; President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd; Vice President Tariq Hashemi, a Sunni; and others.

Baghdad has appeared calmer, but attackers have hit elsewhere in the country. On Saturday, bombers attacked in Kirkuk, killing six people and wounding 75 others.

The attack in Kirkuk highlights the challenge faced by U.S. and Iraqi forces. Even as troops fan out across the capital -- sweeping neighborhoods for weapons, rebels and militias -- attackers have struck in other strategic places.

High-ranking Iraqi military officials have noted recently a significant increase in attacks in and around Kirkuk. Iraqi and U.S. officials fear that al-Qaida-linked groups could spark civil war in Kirkuk much as they have done in Baghdad.

Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen all want control of Kirkuk and the surrounding region. At stake are land, water and some of Iraq's richest oil reserves.

In Baghdad, a crackdown that eventually will involve as many as 27,000 more U.S. and Iraqi troops began Wednesday. Brig. Gen. Qasim Mousawi, an Iraqi military spokesman, said that violence and crime decreased more than 80 percent and that at least 144 people had been detained in sweeps over the past three days.

A statement from al-Maliki's office said the plan also resulted in the return of 107 families to their homes. *